


Open Invitation

by TwistedViolets



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben and Klaus are best buds, Ben is a Good Brother, Claire is afraid of thunder, Claire is the cutest cinnamon roll, Everyone Is Protective Of Her, Everyone is enamored with Claire, Fluffy, Klaus And His typical shenanigans, Klaus centric, Klaus is afraid he’s going to be a bad influence, Klaus paints Claire’s nails, Klaus tells Claire bedtime stories, eventual angst, eventual kidnapping of Claire, family meetings are awkward, klaus is sober
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:49:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21661096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwistedViolets/pseuds/TwistedViolets
Summary: After three months of running from the commission they finally believe they're safe. The chase has ended but that only leaves them left with the mission of fixing a broken picture of a family that was never perfect.Allison ends up with Claire, rumor or no rumor she won't say (Pun intended) but she brings her to stay at the manor. She believes this is what they need, something to glue them together like the family they should be.There's only three problems with this. One, the commission is waiting in the shadows, Two, Claire is starting to show signs of extraordinary potential, and most importantly three, Klaus is not a good role model but for some unknown reason Claire won't leave him alone.
Comments: 20
Kudos: 121





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Me: has many fics I need to finish
> 
> Also me: starts another
> 
> I’m sick right now give me a break. I had a dream about this and yeah? I just really enjoyed the idea my subconscious handed to me and was compelled to write it.

"Dear father, I am sorry I have sinned," he mumbles, pressing his hands together as the smell of paradise hits him. The raunchy scent of decomposing food and blood surrounds him in the dark.

He closes his eyes, trying his best to get into it. "I know this may be rather rude, considering it may be more appropriate to call you mother instead," he says, rubbing his hands together as he's seen on those motion pictures where people confess their sins in those boxes.

"This is my first confessional, so I'm not sure how it goes but I just had to get this off my chest. The weight of my sins, those which I have committed during my alone time and-"

There's a knock and he growls. He lifts the lid up in one clean motion and peers over the side. Diego peers up at him, glaring, shaking his head like he's just so much better than he is. 

"What the hell are you doing Klaus?"

Ben whistles beside him as he sits back against the fire escape and reads his book. 

He ignores Ben and props his head up with his hands. "Confessing my sins," he sighs, letting his eyes narrow in disinterested.

"In a dumpster?" Diego rubs a hand down his face before shaking his head again. "Claire is coming today and you are doing this?" He gestured wildly to the dumpster.

He shrugs and crawls over to the side of the dumpster and leans over it. The smell of rotten eggs pours off his body and Diego scrunches his nose up. "I guess," He said half-heartedly before Diego takes a step back.

"Don't be this way brother! Come on in, I bet you have some sins you wanna confess!" 

Diego looks away.

"You are ridiculous."

He grins as Ben nods his head in agreement.

————————————————————

That's how he met Claire. Walking into the house, covered in the scent of rotting flesh and strange liquids soaked in his clothes. His skirt was ripped in six different places from glass and protruding metal. It was breezy and let his legs show, bruises and cuts run up them, trailing underneath the skirt.

His family all crowd around Claire who hugs Allison. Shy, a little, they keep their distance but they talk so loud that he can see why she's clinging to her mother like that.

Vanya smiles, from the back, away. She doesn't get close because the air is tense, her mere presence makes things hard on everyone. It makes everyone remember the things they're trying to forget.

He doesn't look for long, only really admires that child for a moment. It's hard to believe his sister could ever make something that beautiful.

He walks, slowly, quietly, just trying to get past them. "I didn't make you go through the main entrance just so you could avoid them," Ben hisses behind him.

He rolls his eyes and keeps walking, the bathroom is his destination. He reeks and could use a long and steaming hot bath along with a bar of soap.

"Klaus," Ben addresses him again when he completely ignores him the first time.

"I'm not listening~," he says in a sing-song tone as he looks back at his family, at little Claire, his niece. She's so adorable and precious, too precious.

He shouldn't be around her, he's too much of a bad influence. Even if he's sober now, even if he's trying to be better, he's still Klaus and he'll always be a fuck up.

"You can't avoid them forever," Ben says, reminding him of that cruel truth. 

He stops, sighing, clenching his hands along the metallic tags that he keeps hanging on his neck. "I'm not good with children," he whispers back to his brother.

"You are a child magnet."

"Am not!"

Ben floats in front of him, tapping the book on his forehead. "Claire needs to meet her uncle Klaus."

"She doesn't."

"Klaus?" Vanya asks, low but loud enough to draw the attention of everyone else. They all turn to him and look him up and down before narrowing their eyes.

"Yeah," he laughs, rubbing his neck as he makes his way over to the crowd. The crowd who looks at him like he might be carrying a weapon.

"That's your uncle Klaus," Allison says, hoarsely, her posture exudes distrust. "He's a bad influence," Allison adds on as almost an afterthought. He's glad someone agrees with him.

Claire looks up at him, her eyes shining with something he doesn't know. "Why are you wearing a skirt?" she asks in a small voice, clearly perplexed at his appearance. He crouches down on the balls of feet to be at her level. 

"It's Sunday," he answers as he plays with the end of his skirt. 

"Why do you stink?"

"I went dumpster diving," he chuckles, feeling the judge-mental gazes of his siblings who would probably beat him if he said the wrong thing. "It's not as fun as it sounds," he continues, trying his best not to accidentally be a bad influence.

"He needs a bath," Diego says, pulling on his shoulder. He stands with a smile.

"Uncle D's right...I've got to hit the showers," he gives a wave as he walks away, just hearing the silence creep in his bones. It was awkward, everyone was quiet.

Quiet, tense, awkward. It was an awful experience which is exactly why he didn't want to be there.


	2. Chapter 2

He rubs his hands together in the soapy water. Dish duty isn't exactly his favorite but he can't say he's surprised. His siblings don't seem to trust him with much of anything right now.

He's a recovering junkie at the edge of relapse in their eyes. He's prone to dangerous behavior and unhealthy habits. He's everything they don't like in a brother.

"I think she likes you," Ben coos as he flips a page in his book. He sits on the side of the table as he switches between watching him wash dishes and reading.

"What makes you say that?" He asks, almost chuckles as he washes the last plate. He sits the plate in the rack to dry.

"She's been watching you," a chill travels up his spine. A bad chill that causes an array of goosebumps to materialize on his skin.

"What?" He croaks, it almost sounds like he's being stalked in his own home.

"You haven't noticed?" Ben asks as he gives him a smirk. An 'I know more than you know smirk.' He tilts his head in a questioning manner and Ben just gestures behind him to the archway. He sees it, her, she hides behind the arch but her poofy hair gives her away.

He dunks his hands back underneath the water before pulling the plug out. He sits it on the side of the sink before dabbing some soap on his hands. He rubs them together as he takes small, patience steps towards his little fan.

She peers over at him, her eyes widen and she stumbles back, nearly falling on the hard floors. She shivers and her cheeks heat up as she places her hands behind her back. 

"I wasn't doing anything."

He grins as he lifts his hands up, rubbing his thumb and pointer finger together before forming them into a circle. A ring of soap coats it, making it into a makeshift bubble wand. He blows a steady breath and a small bubble forms before falling.

She reaches a hand out to catch it.

_Pop_

She giggles as her posture lightens. "Uncle Luther says I shouldn't play with you," she whispers, almost as if she's afraid that someone is going to hear her. Someone like Luther or Diego.

Someone who will take her away from him because he's a bad influence.

"He's just worried about you," he said as he prepared himself to blow another bubble. She picks a string off of her shorts.

"But you seem so nice...momma always talked about you like you were the fun uncle..."

He blows another bubble. It floats further and further down until it lands on the floor. It pops silently as he looks at the sad look in her eyes.

He sighs.

She looks up at him with puppy eyes that he just can't fight.

————————————————————

He holds her fingertips steadily as he paints her nails. One by one he applies the neon pink paint. The paint that's over a decade old and barely has any pigment.

Claire doesn't complain in the slightest, in fact, she doesn't even seem to notice that fact. She just smiles and kicks her feet as if she couldn't be happier.

She is a fan. 

A hardcore fan girl...it's no doubt Allison's fault. She's probably been told so many fabricated stories and fairytales about the great Umbrella Academy missions that she thinks of him as some hero.

"This is fun," she informs him cheerfully.

He smiles and nods in agreement because that's what he's supposed to do.

"Klaus," Ben eyes the nail polish with distaste. "That's a terrible color," he informs him without another beat.

He shrugs at Ben because he isn't sure if Claire's okay with the whole I talk with ghosts thing. "All done!" He picks her hands up and brings them to his mouth. He blows on her nails a few times to help them dry.

"Okay! Now it's your turn," she said as she takes the nail polish and one of his palms. She stops for a minute to admire the 'hello' before continuing. She paints each fingernail slowly, patiently.

"Do you chew your nails?" She asks while painting the dulled end of his pinky.

"Sometimes," he answers as Ben rolls his eyes.

"Do they hurt?"

"No," he lies because he doesn't want to make her feel bad. She seems to accept his words easily. It must be nice to be a child, to be allowed to be naïve.

_Bang_

He looks up at the door at Diego who leans against it like he's so cool. His brother narrows his eyes at this, his eyes scan the entire space as if searching for anything he's doing wrong.

Nothing is wrong. They are just painting nails. 

A melody drifts in the room behind Diego. It's a classic sound, beautiful but sad. Somewhere Vanya is playing the violin and it has a strange way of comforting him.

"Uncle D!" Claire yells with excitement as she hops off the bed and into Diego's arm. 

He chuckles at the nickname. He's surprised it stuck...Diego is never going to let him live it down.

"Are you hanging out with Klaus?" Diego asks, almost distrustfully.

Claire nods quickly as she leans out of his hug. She shows off her newly painted nails to Diego. "Uncle Klaus painted them...aren't they pretty?"

"Yeah," Diego says, finally seeming to lower his guard. "They are beautiful and so are you." He bops her on the nose and she makes a noise of displeasure.

"Don't do that! I'm not a little kid."

Klaus screws the nail polish cap on the bottle before blowing at his nails. She is adorable.

The classic melody picks up and drifts around the room. "Your aunt wants to show you her violin," Diego says, holding her hand as he guides her away.

He huffs a sigh of relief.

"Don't be like that," Ben scolds him.

"That was awful," he places a hand on his forehead and falls against the bed dramatically. 

Ben does not look amused. "She adores you and you adore her...just admit it!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you even speaking english?

Ben glares harshly but he just turns away and feigns disinterest.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be a little longer but the start to angst.
> 
> Sorry if there are any typos, I’ll be back sometime today to fix it up.

Claire must have fallen asleep from Vanya's music. He knows classical music does that to him.

He passes her on his way to the infirmary. She's sleeping soundly in Luther's arm. Her head lolling side to side as a small smile remains on her lips.

He avoids them because he doesn’t want to wake her.

He yawns as soon as he sees the infirmary. It only takes him a moment to find ointment. He applies it to the cuts covering his legs. 

"This is more self-care than you've had in years."

He ignores Ben and the smugness behind his voice. He doesn't want to be reminded of his old self. Of the him that slept in dirty alleyways and begged for drugs.

He gently applies a bandage to each of his small wounds before smoothing the edges. An eerie buzz crawls up from the walls of the infirmary, the kind of buzz that always happens right before a storm.

————————————————————

Everyone is downstairs. He isn't sure what they're doing because there isn't any music nor laughter. Just the sound of steady rainfall swims through the space around him and he shivers.

He isn't interested in partying anyway but he figured they would do something. A small celebration with a drink or two and soft music. Not classical because he'd fall asleep but something more like the Blues.

Loud music gives him anxiety.

He cracks Allison's door, just peeking inside for a split moment. He can't help but be worried about Claire. He knows what it's like to wake up in the dark, alone, with rain pounding against the windows and thunder crackling not far behind.

He didn't think it was supposed to storm as bad but then again he never checks the weather.

She's awake, just staring at the ceiling with her eyes half-lidded. She squints when a ray of light hits her from the crack in the door. She looks over at him with glassy eyes.

He stares at her small form. Shivering in the dark while lightning illuminates the room. The thunder follows straight after and she hides underneath the covers.

"You are going to help her right?" Ben says almost accusingly.

He looks over with disgust. "What's with that tone? Do you really think I'd abandon her?" 

He walks inside shaking off Ben's judgment. "You were standing there for a while I was getting worried," Ben replies while another flash of lightning hits the room.

He gently pulls on the edges of the blankets. "Claire? Sweetheart?" He tries his best to be the parental figure she needs although he doesn't really know how. 

The blanket slides down and her eyes are wide, scared. She reaches up and pulls on his sleeves. "Will you sleep with me?" She asks in such a small timid voice that no is isn't even an option.

He smiles and she scoots over and lifts the covers for him. He snuggles in beside her. She immediately buries her head in his chest as the thunder roars in the distance.

"I didn't know you were afraid of thunder." He whispers, more to himself than her.

"I'm not!" She says adamantly but her statement loses all of its fire when another crackle works its way into their ears. She trembles against him and he rubs her head.

"What were you saying?" 

She looks up to him with a glare. "I'm not afraid of thunder, I'm afraid of the dark."

He shrugs and doesn't fight her on this.

"Can you tell me a bedtime story?"

"I don't have any of those."

She leans back and looks up at him sternly. "Don't lie to me! You were the Seance uncle Klaus! You've gotta have stories!" 

_Seance_

"Momma always tells me bedtime stories," She pouts and looks away.

"It was a hot day in October," he starts, wracking his brain for any child-appropriate missions. There were rarely any of those. "The leaves were just beginning to fall as Uncle Luther-"

"Spaceboy,” Claire interrupts, she doesn't even seem to notice the flashes of lightning. 

_Spaceboy_

"As spaceboy began to climb the fifty-five-foot tall tree, It is a long journey to the top to save the princess but he's decided he can do it alone." He lowers his voice as he speaks. "The princess cries to him and Spaceboy tells her she'll be just fine."

Her eyes glow with satisfaction and she doesn't even look tired. "He takes one limb at a time, as the horror stands below and offers his help. Space boy insists he can do it on his own."

Ben does not look happy to be included.

"Spaceboy finally reaches the top, the limb is unsteady and bows underneath his weight but he's there. The princess cries at the end of the limb, shaking like a leaf. He calls out to her but she can't move, she's paralyzed. He takes a deep breath before crawling down the limb, slowly, he doesn't want to startle her."

He leans down and makes a cracking noise with his teeth. "Then the branch snaps just like that. Spaceboy catches the princess in his arms and braces himself to him the hard concrete below. Luckily though The Horror caught them and set them down gently. Spaceboy returned the princess to the prince and then Spaceboy and The Horror go for ice cream."

He yawns and she smiles up at him. He wonders if she knows how stupid that story was or the fact that it was a completely ridiculous way to describe saving a cat from a tree. He isn't sure but she's smiling and glowing.

She isn't tired in the slightest.

"Spaceboy is so brave!" She coos as thunder crackles in the distance. She doesn't even know it.

"I guess."

"Can you tell me another story?" She asks so sweetly as her cheeks glow a rosy red. "Please," she begs him.

"I-"

"Please!"

"But-"

She gives him puppy eyes..again and he just can't fight it. "Fine," he sighs and begins to wrack his brain for another story to tell.


End file.
